Head traction means



Feb. 8, 1955 T. e. WILHELM HEAD TRACTION MEANS Filed July 27, 1953 INVEN TOR.

THU G. WILHELM BY 'mu-idm Wyn 11 Rabat/Knock United States Patent G HEAD TRACTION MEANS Tru G. Wilhelm, Burbank, Calif.

Application July 27, 1953, Serial No. 370,362

4 Claims. (Cl. 128-75) The present invention relates generally to the field of therapeutics, and more particularly, to a novel traction support for holding a head halter.

Certain injuries to a persons spinal column, especially those resulting from a sudden movement of the head, require that the patient undergo periodic neck-stretching treatments. Although such treatments may be satisfactorily rendered by a physician, chiropractor, or other specially trained individual, the cost of frequent treatments may be considerable. Additionally, it is often impractical for such trained practitioner to be in attendance at the time that the neck-stretching treatment is required. Under these circumstances, it has been heretofore proposed that such neck-stretching treatments be effected by means of a halter which encompasses a patients head. The opposite end of this halter is attached to one end of a rope, the rope being strung through an eye secured to the ceiling of the patients room, and a weight being connected to the opposite end of the rope. With this arrangement, an upward force may be exerted upon the patients head so as to stretch his neck. While such arrangement generally provides successful results, it entails several disadvantages. In particular, this arrangement requires that special pains be taken to install the rope-supporting eye in the ceiling and to thread the rope through the eye. Additionally, such installation leaves a hole in the ceiling, which hole must later be filled and the area therearound colormatched with the remainder of the ceiling. If the patient wants to take the neck-stretching treatment in various rooms, each of such rooms must be equipped with an eye, and each time that such eye is to be utilized, the rope must be strung therethrough. A further disadvantage of this heretofore-proposed arrangement is that the weight secured to the end of the rope opposite the head halter often comes into contact with the back of the patient to thereby create a very uncomfortable condition.

It is a major object of the present invention to provide a novel traction support for use with a head halter in effecting a neck-stretching treatment.

A further object of the invention is to provide a traction support which may be attached to the top of a door while the patient is positioned in front of the door. With this arrangement, the head halter may be utilized in any room without requiring that an eye be mounted therein.

Another object is to provide a traction support which may be attached to a door without the use of any tools and without requiring any alteration of the door.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a traction support which permits the patient to adjust the amount of traction being applied by the head halter while the patient remains in a seated position.

It is a further object to provide a traction support which is simple in design and rugged of construction, whereby it may afford a long service life.

It is an additional object to provide a traction support which may be economically manufactured, and yet which is capable of supporting a considerable amount of weight.

An especially important object of the present invention is to provide a traction support which may be shipped in a knocked-down condition, and readily assembled by the ultimate user; such assembly being capable of accomplishment by the most unskilled person and Without the use of any tools.

1 ice These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof, when taken in conjunction with the appended drawings, wherein Figure l is a perspective view showing a traction support embodying the present invention, and the manner whereby it may be utilized in a neck-stretching treatment; and

Figure 2 is an enlarged perspective view of said trac tion support.

Referring to the drawings and particularly to Figure 1, the preferred form of traction support T embodying the present invention, broadly comprises a bracket generally designated 10, a rod member generally designated 12 extending forwardly from the bracket, a first pulley 14 attached to the front portion of the rod member and a second pulley 16 attached to the rear portion of the rod member. A rope 18, attached at one of its ends to a head halter 20, is threaded through the pulleys 14 and 16 and has its opposite end secured to the knob 22 of a door 24, before which the patient 26 is seated.

More particularly, referring to Figure 2, the bracket 10 is preferably formed from a single metallic blank, and it includes a vertical front plate 30, a vertical rear plate 32, and a horizontal top plate 34, which top plate is of substantially the width of the door 24. The front portion of the top plate 34 is shown doubled over so that it extends forwardly of the front plate 30. A circular aperture 36 is formed at the center of the front portion of the top plate 34. A socket 38 is formed at the center of the front plate 30. Preferably, this socket 38 will be defined by a forwardly bowed strip 40 which is stamped from the front plate.

The rod member 12 is also of metallic construction, and is doubled over so as to define a generally horizontally extending tension element 42 and a generally horizontally extending compression element 44; the tension element being arranged above the compression element. A depending leg 46 is formed at the rear of the tension element 42 for insertion into the aperture 36. Similarly, a horizontal leg 48 is formed at the rear of the compression element 44 for insertion into the socket 38. This leg 43 extends transversely inwardly from the rear end of a horizontally offset section 49 of the compression element 44. It should be noted that the strip 40 that defines the socket 38 is narrower than the width of the leg 48. Accordingly, the outer end portions of this leg 48 abut the front surface of the front wall 30 at either side of the strip 40 so as to restrain any horizontal wobble of the rod member 12. The portion of the compression element 44 forward of the offset section 49 is centered relative to the strip 49 and the front plate 30.

The pulleys 14 and 16 are of conventional construction, including a hanger 50, having a loop 52, and a sheave 54 which is'rotatably supported by the hanger. The loops 52 of the pulleys 14 and 16 are adapted to slide along the tension and compression elements of the rod member. In order to restrain the front pulley 14 against rearward movement along the compression element 44, the front portion of the compression element is formed with a first projection 56. Likewise, the rear portion of the compression element is formed with a similar second projection 58 adapted to restrainv the second pulley 16 against forward movement along the compression element.

It should be particularly observed that with the construction shown and described herein, it is readily possible to ship the traction support T in a knocked-down condition. Thus, the traction support will be packaged with the rod member 12 and the pulleys 14 and 16 in a disassembled condition with respect to the bracket 10. When the ultimate user receives and unpackages the various elements of the traction support, the front pulley 14 may be urged upwardly over the depending leg 46 of the tension element 42 and slid forwardly along this element until it abuts the first projection 56. Similarly, the second pulley 16 may be urged over the horizontal leg 48 of the ompression element 44 until it abuts the second projection 58. Thereafter, the depending leg 46 may be inserted within the aperture 36, and the horizontal leg 48 may be inserted into the socket 38. The traction support will then be ready for use.

in order to use the traction support, the one end of the rope 18 is secured to the mid-portion of a steel bar 60 to which is attached the upper end of the head halter 2G. The rope is then threaded through the first pulley 14, the second pulley 16 and extended to the door knob 22. An adjustment loop 62 is formed at the knob-attached end of the rope 18 for adjusting the height at which the head halter is to be supported. As shown in Figure 1, the patient 26 may control the length of this adjustment loop 62 without moving from his seated position. Once the head halter is disposed at the desired height the patient may readily control the amount of traction being applied by the head halter by merely changing his body position. If desired, a conventional tension type scale (not shown) may be interposed between the bottom of the loop 62 and the door knob 22 for providing an accurate: indication of the exact tension being applied to the rope 18.

While there has been shown and described what is at present considered to be the preferred embodiment of the present invntion, it will be apparent that various modifications and changes may be made thereto without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. Head traction means for use with a door and a rope having one of its ends secured to a head halter and its opposite end secured to the knob of said door, comprising: a bracket having a vertical front plate, a vertical rear plate, and a horizontal top plate of substantially the width of said door which rigidly interconnects said front and rear plates, said bracket being disposable upon the upper portion of said door with the underside of said top plate abutting the top surface of said door, with the front portion of said top plate extending forwardly of said vertical plate; an aperture formed at the center of the front portion of said top plate; a socket formed on the front of said front plate; a rod member that is doubledover so as to define a generally horizontally extending tension element and a generally horizontally extending compression element; a depending leg formed at the rear of said tension element that is removably inserted within said aperture; a horizontal leg formed at the rear of said compression element that is removably inserted within said socket; a first pulley carried by the front end of said compression element; and a second pulley carried by the rear portion of said compression element, said rope being threaded through said pulleys whereby it may be extended from said head halter through said first pulley, said second pulley, and to said knob.

2. Head traction means for use with a door and a rope having one of its ends secured to a head halter and its opposite end secured to the knob of said door, comprising: a bracket having a vertical front plate, a vertical rear plate, and a horizontal top plate of substantially the width of said door which rigidly interconnects said front and rear plates, said bracket being disposable upon the upper portion of said door with the underside of said top plate abutting the top surface of said door, with the front portion of said top plate extending forwardly of said vertical plate; an aperture formed at the center of the front portion of said top plate; a socket formed on the front of said front plate; a rod member that is doubled-over so as to define a generally horizontally extending tension element and a generally horizontally extending compression element; a depending leg formed at the rear of said tension element that is removably inserted within said aperture; a horizontal leg formed at the rear of said compression element that is removably inserted within said socket; a first pulley carried by the front end of said compression element; a second pulley carried by the rear portion of said compression element, said rope being threaded through said pulleys; a first projection formed at the front portion of said compression element for anchoring said first pulley against rearward movement along said element; and a second projection formed at the rear portion of said compression element for anchoring said second pulley against forward movement along said element, said rope being extended from said head halter through said first pulley, said second pulley, and to said nob.

3. Head traction means for use with a door and a rope having one of its ends secured to a head halter and its opposite end secured to the knob of said door, comprising: a bracket having a vertical front plate, a vertical rear plate, and a horizontal top plate of substantially the width of said door which rigidly interconnects said front and rear plates, said bracket being disposable upon the upper portion of said door with the underside of said top plate abutting the top surface of said door, with the front portion of said top plate extending forwardly of said vertical plate; an aperture formed at the center of the front portion of said top plate; a forwardly bowed vertical strip formed at the center of said front plate so as to define a horizontally extending socket; a rod member that is doubled-over so as to define a generally horizontally extending tension element and a generally horizontally extending compression element; a depending leg formed at the rear of said tension element that is downwardly inserted within said aperture; a horizontally offset section formed at the rear of said compression element; a horizontally extending leg formed at the rear end of said offset section, said latter leg being of greater width than said strip whereby when it is inserted within said socket its exposed end portions will abut the front surface of said front wall and thereby restrain horizontal wobble of said rod member; a first projection formed at the front portion of said compression element for anchoring said first pulley against rearward movement along said element; and a second projection formed at the rear portion of said compression element for anchoring said second pulley against forward movement along said element, said rope being extended from said head halter through said first pulley, said second pulley, and to said knob.

4. Head traction means for use with a door and a rope having one of its ends secured to a head halter, comprising: a bracket having a vertical front plate, a vertical rear plate, and a horizontal top plate rigidly interconnecting said front and rear plates, said bracket being disposable upon the upper portion of said door; an aperture formed in said top plate; a rod member that is doubledover so as to define a generally horizontally extending tension element and a generally horizontally extending compression element; a depending leg formed at the rear of said tension element that is removably inserted within said aperture; a horizontal leg formed at the rear of said compression element that is removably inserted within said socket; a first pulley carried by the front end of said compression element; and a second pulley carried by the rear portion of said compression element, said rope being threaded through said pulleys.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 445,658 Bushong Feb. 3, 1891 951,560 Eaton Mar. 8, 1910 2,231,128 Krantz Feb. 11, 1941 

